The Tiger’s Apprentice follows a teenager named Tom who learns about his family’s history as world-protecting Guardians. His grandmother left Hong Kong with Tom as a baby to protect him from an evil sorceress named Loo. After Loo kills Tom’s grandma in battle, he becomes the apprentice of her close friend Hu, who also happens to be Tiger, one of the 12 Zodiac warriors who help the Guardian keep the world safe. By the end of the film, Tom becomes more comfortable with his role and learns the true meaning of loyalty and friendship.
When Tom goes to his grandmother’s house for solace, he’s tricked by the cunning Loo, loses the Phoenix egg, and just about escapes with his life thanks to Rav. Tom runs back to Hu’s antique store, expecting Tiger to scold him for making a mistake. Instead, Hu offers kind words of encouragement to his mentee, giving Tom the confidence to go after Loo and retrieve the precious bird.
Where does Tom find Loo?
Under the Zodiac’s guidance, Tom uses his powers to find Loo among the crowd gathered for the Chinese New Year parade. A battle ensues between the Zodiacs and Loo’s Yaoguai while the evil leader hides on the roof of a tall building.
Hu and Tom follow Loo to the top of the high-rise. During the battle, the brave Tiger joins the other imprisoned Zodiacs by getting sucked into the evil creature’s umbrella, leaving Tom alone to fight her.
Try as Tom might, he’s no match for Loo, who gets the upper hand. She taunts him and says she chose to let him live when he was a baby because she always knew he didn’t have what it takes to be a Guardian. The villain then starts putting her plan of using the Phoenix to create a world without humans into action, while Tom is magically restrained and powerless to stop her.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the Zodiacs, with Rav’s help, are trying to get their hands on the umbrella and free their comrades. Naomi successfully releases all the Zodiacs, including Hu, from the umbrella. The completed team of 12 work together and make their way towards the high rise, where Loo is already turning the humans down below into stone.
How does Tom manage to defeat Loo and save the world?
Despite the Zodiac’s best efforts, Loo has gained far too much strength to be stopped. Instead of fighting Loo, Tom touches the Phoenix egg and is finally able to see the magical bird. When Loo tries to get retrieve the egg from Tom, he harnesses Pheonix’s power and vanquishes her for good. He then restores all the humans to life.
Using the power of the Phoenix to save the world depletes Tom and almost kills him. As the young boy is about to die, Tiger asks the Empress to merge their souls like Mrs. Lee did for him all those years ago. The magic works, and Tom and Hu wake up surrounded by Rav and the other zodiacs.
How does The Tiger’s Apprentice end?
The movie ends at the temple where Hu and the Zodiacs name Tom as the new guardian. Hu also gives Tom a spare key to his shop, and the young boy decides to move in. After all, Tom has a piece of Hu’s soul now, making them technically family.
Before the credits start rolling, we get a short scene of Hu training Tom with Eye of the Tiger playing in the background. To everyone’s surprise, Tom turns into a tiger during his training – a side effect of sharing a soul with Hu.
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